Akademisk avhandling--Stockholm, 1992. / Résumé en anglais. Bibliogr. p. 461-468. Index.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät--München--Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 1986. / Bibliogr. p. 410-446. Index.

[No abstract available] / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

[No abstract submitted] / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

Mysticism is simply religious experience in its highest manifestations. In Christian mysticism, love is the distinguishing factor; its focal point is the Incarnation. The mystic worships God both In His Transcendence and In His Immanence, his emphasis usually being on one or other of these aspects of His nature. In the seventeenth century, two main mystical traditions existed. One was the orthodox Catholic tradition; the other was more unorthodox in character, stemming from the philosophy of Hermes Trismegistes. The mystic way consists of the five-fold path beginning in Awakening, followed by Purgation, Illumination, the Dark Night of the Soul, and climaxed by Union. The mystic life itself is not vague or escapist: it is a life deified in order that it may be dedicated. Contemplation and activity go hand in hand. Mystical and poetical experience can be differentiated by the direction which each experience takes: the poet returns from his experience with his poem, whereas the mystic pushes on to the fuller vision of God. Turning specifically to George Herbert, I believe he was never fully awakened in the mystical sense; hence, his subsequent experience cannot be considered truly mystical. Nevertheless, there are points of reference and similarities between Herbert and the mystics. His Purgation, however, lacked the fullness of the mystic's experience, for it lacked the most significant attribute of the purgative state, the stimulation of the will. A sense of Illumination, moreover, is never sustained in Herbert. Rarely does he express joy at God's presence. Indeed, he was most like the mystic in his expression of despair. Thus the peace he came to exemplify in his life at Bernerton is truly remarkable in the light of the suffering revealed in his poems. The sense of harmony and peace he ultimately achieved came not through inner peace but through triumph over constant turmoil and despair. Henry Vaughan, on the other hand, experienced, I believe, a true mystic Awakening, accepting the obligations implicit in it, and undergoing, as a consequence, a certain degree of Purgation. His deepest suffering was closely linked with the persecution of the church. His Illumination is best understood through his approach to nature. His treatment of light imagery in nature, however, tends to be misleading in an assessment of his mysticism. I believe that the poems which deal most successfully with light are really philosophical rather than mystical, and that his Illumination, or vision, was essentially that of the poet and not that of the mystic. The vision he captured is, nevertheless, one of the fullest and loveliest to be found in our English poetry. Both Herbert- and Vaughan sought to praise their Maker through the medium of their art. They were deeply spiritual poets though neither can be considered a mystic in the full sense of the word. Each was essentially mystical in his aspirations, nevertheless and In their individual accomplishments each tells us something of the final and full accomplishment of the mystic: Vaughan through his illuminated vision of the world, Herbert through his exemplary life of holiness. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

The aim of the study is to make a contribution to the empirical history of sociology by supplementing and revising the current critical literature on Herbert Spencer. It is contended that Spencer's sociology can be interpreted as a thoroughgoing functionalism. It is shown that this is not generally recognised, and, where recognised at all, not systematically demonstrated. The essay, then, provides an original and systematic analysis of Spencer's sociology as functionalism and, in so doing, corrects much of the current critical literature on Spencer. The main argument, which is developed throughout the study, is that Spencer's sociology can be characterised by the following elements: (1) a holistic orientation; (2) an assumption of multiple and reciprocal causation; (3) an application of an equilibrium model in respect of the problems of social order and social change; (4) an assumption and identification of functional requirements common to all societies; (5) an hypothesis that total societies tend to differentiate into subsystems corresponding to these requirements; (6) an identification of types of societies and a corresponding structural- functional requisite analysis; (7) an interpretation of sociocultural traits in their contexts and by their functions; (8) the use of the functionalist explanatory form, where consequences are part of the causal elements; and (9) a view that, at bottom, societies hold together by common beliefs, traditions, and values. These general tenets or ideas, it is pointed out, can be found as important elements in the current functionalist literature, and an important future study would be one which provides a genetic history of functionalism, from Spencer to modern exponents. In the main body, it is initially argued that Spencer's basic approach to social phenomena consists in a synthesis of social structuralism and culture-and-personality, and of a methodological individualism and collectivism (in respect of the essential focus of determinacy in social origins). It is next argued that Spencer's cardinal interests lay in determining what is common to all societies, and what is common to societies of a type or species (e.g. militant oroindustrial; simple or complex). A detailed analysis is provided of Spencer's view of the most fundamental structure of all societies (regulative, sustaining, distributive subsystems); how the component parts correspond to functional requirements (procreation, production, distribution, communication, control, socialisation); and how societies are thought to differentiate into functional subsystems. Spencer's principal social types are also scrutinised from the point of view of functional requirements, structures, and functions. In all cases, Spencer is shown to have practised functional analysis. It is next demonstrated that an equilibrium model is basic to Spencer's view of social order and change. Societies tend towards equilibrium; both internally, and with respect to the external environment. Major social changes entail external or upsetting forces. Social evolution, as a type of change, is discussed from an equilibrium perspective. Throughout the general argument of the main body, current critical opinion is noted and generally rejected or modified. Finally, an analysis of the teleological implications of Spencer's sociology is provided. It is concluded that, for Spencer, ends-in-view often accidentally or unintentionally produce phenomena with important social functions (as with the division of labour in complex societies, which latently aids social cohesion), but, in other cases, the sheer fact of pluralistic existence itself underlies the unconscious or unplanned nascence of social beliefs and practices which, as ends-of-action, latently help to maintain social cohesion. The general conclusion is that Spencer was in fact a thoroughgoing functionalist. Any critical understanding of him or his potential relevancy for to-day, presupposes a corrected account of his sociology. The study hopes to supply that account. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

A descriptive bibliography of the numerous editions together with their later issues of George Herbert's writings. The list includes separate sections of both relevant manuscripts and also ghost editions. Selections are not included in the bibliography, but the more significant ones are noted in the accompanying essay on the history of George Herbert publications. The essay traces the trends which influence both publishers and their readership over the years 1612-1993, and though the focus is on George Herbert materials, the discussion is applicable to any study of publishing history. It argues that the nineteenth-century revival of interest in Herbert at its most prominent in the Victorian period was primarily a result of a devotionalism which favoured traditional ways. Yet, it is hard to separate this devotionalism from the bourgeoning antiquarianism of the period. Similarly, those at the head of the revival of interest in Herbert were literary people: S. T. Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Keble and the Tractarians, The Pre-Raphaelites, George Macdonald, and A. B. Grosart. As a result the revival represented a remarkably comprehensive interest in Herbert's works. By way of contrast, in the twentieth century the scholarly interest in Herbert appears to have detached itself from a devotional involvement, and as the century draws to a close this approach fostered eagerly by the universities brings with it the idea that Herbert's poetry is inaccessible without an expert's instruction. Thus, at a time when there is an extraordinary flowering of books about George Herbert, we are beginning to see the return of Herbert to obscurity, an obscurity in practice which exceeds that which he suffered in the eighteenth century. The essay also considers the variety of ornamentation employed in Herbert editions, particularly the treatments of the shape poems "The Altar" and "Easter Wings", but also the use of plates and illustrations within the text. The bibliography itself includes details of trade bindings, original prices, numbers printed, and printers' and publishers' full addresses wherever possible. There are a number of uses for this bibliography beyond its immediate purpose. Anyone interested in the history of a printing or publishing house should find helpful data, for instance. Bibliographers who are faced with undated issues or editions of a certain author may find a parallel item in this list which has an assigned date. It is hoped, too, that other bibliographers who are investigating Herbert publications will find this a source of data. The most important purpose of the bibliography, though, is to fill a present gap in Herbert studies, namely the need for a study of the publishing history of Herbert's writings. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Texte remanié de : Thèse : Lettres : Montpellier : 1982. / Bibliogr. p. 323-333.

Thesis--University of South Carolina. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-214).